


The First Deep Breath

by pkmntrainer_alex



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alcohol, Drunken Confessions, Late Night Conversations, Light Angst, Other, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-22
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-19 08:28:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29623476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pkmntrainer_alex/pseuds/pkmntrainer_alex
Summary: Late at night on the ship, Zoro sits out alone on the deck to enjoy the night air, and a drink. He's joined by his least favorite crewmate, who seems to have a lot on his mind...
Relationships: Roronoa Zoro/Vinsmoke Sanji
Comments: 6
Kudos: 118





	The First Deep Breath

**Author's Note:**

> \- Expounding on my theory about why Zoro kept calling Sanji 'prince' for seemingly no reason...
> 
> \- I can't remember precisely when Zoro started with the 'prince' comments so I set this right before they arrived in Alabasta, to be safe - forgive me if I got the timing wrong.
> 
> -I would've liked to have written a more in-depth conversation about it all, between them, but it didn't feel very...Sanji and Zoro, if you know what I mean
> 
> \- If you're waiting for updates on my other pieces, I'm hoping to get them done soon! My pregnancy has taken a frustrating turn and I'm on mandatory hospital bed rest until the beginning of May - so it's not like I have anything else to do. Hoping to roll out updates as my medications level out!

“I didn’t say you could come sit out here with me.”

“Good, because I didn’t ask you.”

Zoro grimaced into his drink, turning away from the idiot cook as he brought his bottle to his lips once more. Not that there was enough booze on the ship to make his present company less annoying. As he drank, the alcohol hit his nose a bit more strongly than usual - until he realized the smell was coming not from his bottle, but from the blonde idiot in the suit who’d slumped down to sit beside him, only just visible under the starry sky.

“I thought you mostly saved all that fancy liquor for Nami and Vivi,” Zoro commented off-handedly, slightly suspicious as he set the bottle onto the wooden deck of the ship. The rocking, lulling motions of the ship beneath him felt pleasant, but it didn’t look like dartbrows was enjoying it nearly as much - all Zoro could hear was fainting groaning and sighing, long legs twitching and jerking beside him in discomfort.

“They’re asleep. I can drink the extra if I want.”

“Paid for by Nami. And you don’t have the money to pay her back.” Zoro knew he was far more broke still, but that wasn’t important.

There was no snappy comeback, unsettling Zoro more. That didn’t seem like the idiot cook at all - he definitely couldn’t handle his booze. He turned his head slightly, eyeing him where he was slumped, and found himself being eyed right back.

“Who cares about having money?” He mumbled, lolling his head back against the wall of the cabin. “Being rich doesn’t mean anything.”

Zoro couldn’t overlook how oddly that seemed like a loaded answer. What would a crap cook from the East Blue know about being rich? Taking another drink, he side-eyed the moron who was sliding further and further down towards the deck. “Don’t say that to our navigator.”

“Money doesn’t mean anything,” he continued, voice slurred, as if Zoro hadn’t spoken at all. He tilted his head back, wiping sweaty blonde hair from his eyes as he looked up towards the night sky. His blue eyes were beginning to glaze over, but there was a peculiar, faraway look behind them. “People who care about you, that means something. People who love and support you. You could be a wealthy prince and it would mean  _ nothing _ without either of those.”

“And you know  _ all _ about being a wealthy prince, I’m sure.” Zoro answered sarcastically.

There was no answer, just more heavy breathing and groaning.

“Yeah, didn’t think -”

“I do.”

“Sure you do.” The thought that it was a lie crossed Zoro’s mind for only a moment before he waved it away. Dartbrows was a lot of things - an idiot, for one - but a liar wasn’t one of them. A lie about being a prince would be one hell of a lie to start with. “Dumbass Cook, Prince of -”

“Sanji Vinsmoke, third prince of the Germa Kingdom in the North Blue.” Even through the drunken stumbling over every syllable, there was no mistaking the bitterness in his voice. “Wealthy prince who was meant to be powerful, and want for nothing. That was both who I was supposed to be, and who I used to be. Sanji Vinsmoke died a long time ago.”

Zoro’s stomach gave a funny jolt, and he looked over again. Of all people, why the hell was this being shared with him? Vivi would’ve been a more sympathetic ear. Or Nami. Or Usopp. Or...literally anyone but him. Snorting lightly, he extended the bottle to the idiot beside him, who shakily accepted it. “Third prince? So you had two brothers -”

“Three. Two older, one younger. We’re quadruplets.”

Zoro snatched the bottle right back, chugging a bit more than was needed at the very thought of three other crap cook clones walking around. “Huh. You’d think you would’ve ended up tougher, growing up with brothers.”

“Oh, they tried. But it was less about toughening me up and more about making me wish I’d never been born. My father...didn’t help things. He said I wasn’t worth raising. Wanted to pretend as though I truly had never been born.” In his peripheral vision, Zoro saw a vague hand gesture. “Torturing me was like sport for them.”

The longer things dragged on, the more Zoro felt equal parts bad for his crewmate and regretful that he’d let the conversation go down this path in the first place. He wanted to change the subject, to hit him with a half-assed insult to distract him, but something told him that whatever this was, it needed to come out. “Well, I mean. You were born, just uh...it’s unfortunate that you were born alongside -”

_ “Failure.” _ The voice switched into a mocking tone, with unmistakable cruelty. Gone was the slurring, and Zoro looked again to see blue eyes hardened towards the sky. He cleared his throat, and imitated another voice.  _ “Weakling.” _

“They were wrong.” Zoro nearly didn’t recognize his voice as he spoke up, suddenly filled with anger and tightly gripping the neck of his bottle. “You’re not a failure. You’re not a weakling. You’re on the crew of the future pirate king. You’ve defeated some of the toughest pirates in the East Blue. You’re helping save a princess, and take down a warlord. Does that sound like a weakling or a failure to you?”

There was silence except for breathing, and Zoro slowly continued. “So who cares what your brothers said? Or what your father said? They were wrong. You’re only wasting time dwelling on what they said. You prove them wrong every day we sail together on this ship, Sanji. Leave them in the past where they belong.”

Too late, Zoro realized he’d actually acknowledged that crap cook -  _ Sanji -  _ had a name, and he quickly shoved the bottle at him to try and redirect as he heard a sharp, deep intake of breath beside him. “Drink more. It’ll help you not think about -”

“Did you just call me Sanji?” 

“No.”

“Hmph.” The bottle was slowly pulled from his hand, and there was a drop in the tension around them. Even without looking at him, or without anything else being said, Zoro could tell that the cook had finally relaxed, and had gotten out what needed to come out. “Well...thanks for listening, Zoro.”

They sat in silence for a moment longer, listening to the waves lap against the ship as a cool breeze blew through. Zoro accepted the bottle once it was handed back, and drank down the last of it. “Why me? Seems like you would’ve preferred anyone but me.”

“Because I know you won’t want to talk to me about it ever again.” 

“Never thought you’d actually make a good point.” And with the strength of the drink they’d been sharing, Zoro was confident that the conversation wouldn’t be remembered by the already-sauced chef anyway. But he knew he wouldn’t forget. “Get some sleep, Sanji.”

“And leave you alone on watch, Zoro?” He laughed then, and Zoro felt a small smile of his own tug at his lips. “Not in a million years.”

**Author's Note:**

> \- You'll notice I pointedly tried to not have Zoro refer to Sanji as anything but his insulting nicknames until the conversation really started getting deep - it felt in-character to me.
> 
> \- I do believe (like a lot of people) that even if there's that rivalry between them, Zoro certainly respects Sanji and thinks he is strong (though not as strong as him)


End file.
